In Another Life

19 - "Now you're really near and I'm really here, I can wrap my arms around you"

19 - "Now you're really near and I'm really here, I can wrap my arms around you"

The last month before Adam came back went by faster than she'd expected. It also meant that she had somehow, miraculously, managed to navigate her way through a second year of university without killing herself, her roommate or anyone else for that matter. She was more relieved than anything though because some days she thought that if she had to write one more exam, she was going to explode with stress and there was no coming back from that.

"I cannot believe that we have two more papers left and then we'll be done and we can pack up and go home to be bugged by our families," Jessica said, sighing happily as she leaned back into the couch.

"Yeah, I can't believe I have two more weeks of freedom before I have to see my stupid brothers' faces,'' Rada agreed, shovelling chips into her mouth and smacking Tina's hand away when she tried to get her hand into the bag.

Vania was laying on the floor next to Ava, the two of them having some 'floor time' after Ava had come in screaming that she hated exams. She turned on her side, lifting her head up on her left hand, and said dreamily, "Maybe this will be my summer. Maybe I'll meet a cute guy on the beach, we'll fall in love and I won't be a lonely old soul anymore."

Alicia, who was fastidiously plucking her eyebrows using her hand mirror and tweezers that she apparently carried around everywhere, laughed. "You'd have to go to a beach first."

Everyone chuckled in agreement and Vania scowled. "I could go to one. Maybe to our lake."

Tina gave up trying to get any chips from Rada and flopped onto the couch next to Jessica. "Didn't you say that place was a health hazard?"

Vania moaned. "Stop ruining my summer plans, you party-poopers."

Jessica grinned mischievously, and Ava opened her eyes at this. Jesscia was rarely one to tease, and she, for one, would like to hear what she was going to say. She really should have been less excited.

"Why don't you ask Ava for some help?"

Ava gaped. "Why me?"

Vania curled closer. "Because you have one boy mooning after you and another who is miles away and still can't handle you not messaging him."

Ava frowned. "Okay, who told you that? Adam can handle me not texting him." She looked around for the guilty party, but suddenly everyone was inspecting their nails, Innocent Ivan's all of them.

"Guys, I don't appreciate y'all talking about my life behind my back," she said, discomfort and a mild bit of hurt clear in her voice.

Tina nudged her with her foot. "It's not like that, hun. We just care about you and we discuss each other's lives all the time. It's not a bad thing. It's coz we love you."

Everyone nodded in agreement but Ava folded her arms, ignoring how weird it felt to be doing it while lying on the floor. "Yeah, but it feels like I keep being judged about my decisions."

Everyone fell silent until Jessica scooted off the couch and sat down next to her, placing a gentle hand on Ava's folded arms. "Ava, that's not true. We just worry about you. We know how much you care about Adam, we think he cares about you too, but you don't feel comfortable saying anything, so we don't want to see you hurt. If he's going to continue seeing Zoey, it's going to be very difficult for you to be in his life. And you can't have your whole life revolve around that."

Tina nodded. "And Jace is a really nice guy. I mean, he has his quirks, I guess, which guy doesn't, but the guys had a nice time with him and Amy said that Diego said that he could see that Jace really cares about you."